Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbooks) - In Canada this is old news -- it was released on Monday -- but for those of you in the U.S., this could be the first you're hearing of it.
The Sportsbooks, of Canada, or TSN.ca, released its own solution to the National Hockey League's labor mess, providing what appears to be a solid middle ground for the league and the NHLPA. Of course, it is merely TSN.ca's recommendation for a new CBA, but given that the two sides have not formally talked since the lockout began it is nice to see something.
The solution was assembled by TSN.ca hockey analysts Bob McKenzie and Pierre McGuire, as well as play-by-play announcer Gord Miller.
The foundation points of the plan, as announced on TSN.ca, are: A hard cap of $6 million on individual player salaries with no cap on how much teams may spend on total payrolls; A dollar for dollar, or 100 percent, luxury tax on all team payrolls in excess of $40 million with the tax monies to be redistributed to those teams with payrolls of less than $40 million but more than $30 million; A revamped salary arbitration system that allows the teams, as well as the players, to file for arbitration and baseball style "final- offer" arbitration; Liberalized free agency with the age for unrestricted status moving to age 30 or after 10 years service in the NHL, whichever comes first; Qualifying offers to be 75 percent of the player's most recent salary level; An entry-level salary and signing bonus cap of $850,000 per year, with no more than 25 percent of that amount in signing bonus, plus allowable performance bonuses to another $850,000, effectively capping entry-level salaries at no more than $1.7 million a year.
Of course, the main sticking point between the league and Players' Association is the salary structure. The NHL wants a cap, the players don't. This is addressed immediately in TSN.ca's plan.
The hard cap of $6 million on player's individual salaries was similar to the idea put forth by Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick last month.
A cap on a single player would accomplish things for both sides. Salaries would no longer be able to rise uncontrollably, but at the same time a club could have as many $6 million players as it chose on its roster. The accompanying luxury tax would funnel money from the big markets, say New York, to the smaller ones, say Calgary.
Of course, both the league and NHLPA did not approve of TSN.ca's proposal. The word "cap" was still used to the chagrin of the players, and there isn't a corresponding relationship between salaries and revenue, making it a no-no for the owners.
ANOTHER PLAYERS TOUR
The list of things to do during the lockout increased by one this week, as a group of NHL players have organized a three-team charity tour through Quebec.
The tour will stop in 32 locations, featuring four-on-four hockey with no checking. At each event the three 12-player teams will play 20-minute games in a round-robin format.
The organizers of this tour are Joel Bouchard of the New York Rangers, Jose Theodore of the Montreal Canadiens and Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers. Other notable names who will participate are Philadelphia's Simon Gagne, Colorado's Alex Tanguay and Anaheim's J.S. Giguere.
The tour is scheduled to kick off October 23 in Sorel, Quebec.
2006 OLYMPICS
The schedule for the 2006 Winter Olympic hockey tournament was released Tuesday, with reigning gold medalist Canada playing host Italy in the first game. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not the NHL will participate in the games, which will be held in Turin, Italy.
The Olympic slate will be tightly fit into a 12-day schedule, as teams will play six matches in the first eight days. The countries who compete for the gold medal will play eight times in 12 days.
The NHL's role in the Olympics remains to be seen, and the situation is even cloudier with the current lockout. However, the International Ice Hockey Federation made the tight schedule to fit the NHL's needs.
"We have done this in order to accommodate the NHL if it decides to make a break in their schedule just like in 1998 and 2002 and to make the entire player pool available for the greatest sport event there is," said IIHF President René Fasel. "But this schedule works perfectly for all scenarios."
